The House I Live In
by EwanMcGregorIsMyHomeboy12
Summary: Disillusionment is so often the result of war. So many times soldiers and civilians alike see the aftereffect and question the justice behind their losses and victories. Jedi are no exception. When the corruption of the Order is finally made clear, the illusion of peace disgraced, Obi-Wan Kenobi makes what he sees as an easy decision. For Anakin, it is far more difficult Dark!Obi
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N) Dark!Obi fic, first time writing him as dark, excited to work more on it. First chapter in a continuing story, set between the end of Clone Wars and the beginning of ROTS, with one major death exception, which is addressed here. Please R and R, let me know what you're thinking!**

He could hear the crisp snap of plasma behind him. He didn't have to open his eyes to know it would be blue, or to see the metallic hand clamped around it. "I was waiting on you to arrive."

"You didn't know I was coming." The fact that he was yet to kill him was proof, proof of everything he had come to realize was wrong with the Jedi. To not kill him, one who had become such a threat, because of some arrogant belief that he would return to them was a clear sign of how deficient their code was. How easily they could fall. He had wasted so much time, had been fooled by that arrogance himself, but his path was clear now, severed from theirs. "Don't lie to me, Obi-Wan. Or do you have a different name now?"

He opened his eyes then, feeling the anger roll off of the man in waves, the pristine sense of pain and betrayal. He could feel his new powers broiling underneath his skin, relishing in it. But, unlike the repression of the Jedi, he was free to have any attachment he wished, and this man behind him, one who might be seeking to kill him, was the closest thing he had ever had to a son.

"Do you fault me, Anakin, for a choice that you might have made as well?" He stood in one fluid motion, his black robe gathering around his shoulders loosely, his lightsaber staying latched onto his belt. He would not need it. Not for this. "You saw your destiny on Mortis. How can you condemn me for wanting much of the same things you do?"

"We are not the same," the Jedi's face was pulled back in distress. Obi-Wan could hardly believe that they had sent Anakin to destroy him, it was again a clear oversight by a council who refused to take charge of their own decisions. "Not anymore, Obi-Wan."

"You have been sent here to kill me." Anakin's face, as it always had, betrayed his emotions. He had never quite mastered the control that Obi-Wan, whose lips now ticked into a smooth smile, had managed all those years ago. "I can't help but think that was an unnecessary cruelty."

"I made them send me." Anakin said in what would have been a cold tone if it hadn't been accompanied by a pained expression, and his inability to meet his former master's eyes.

"Did you not believe them? I assure you, what they say is true." And of course, it was. Dooku was now his master. He was not Sith, not yet. There could only be two, and when Sidious fell as was destined, he would take his place at his master's side, inherit the power of the dark side. So much had fallen into place when he had left the Order. His ability to have a torrent, but short-lived affair with the assassin who had been killed by Dooku only weeks in, his final right to release his anger into the storm that now surrounded him in a violent storm. He was free to hate, hate Maul for his killing of Qui-Gon; he was free to fight, fight against the tyrannic injustice of a Republic that now stood for nothing; free to love, his current affair with the long distant Duchess of Mandalore was now a centrepoint that his life revolved around. After this, he would meet her on one of their secluded planets, where they could shed whatever shells they had constructed and simply exist as lovers in the world. "You always had to see for yourself."

"Don't talk like you understand me," His reaction to Obi-Wan's amused tone was violent.

"But I do, Anakin. More than you know." He let out a long breath. This moment had been long in coming. But now, free of the bounds that had so long restrained the pair of them, he could speak of it. "I know of your marriage, your attachment to Padme. I doubt the Jedi would be too happy to find out about that."

"We have made it work. I don't care if they know."

"The fact that they do not says otherwise." Obi-Wan drawled again. "If they knew Anakin, you know what the Jedi would say. What they would do. Your entire life of work for them means nothing." He paused, watching the effect his words had. He did not want to hurt the man in front of him, and he knew that they would not fight, but his words seemed to be enough. "It is hard to imagine if they knew of her pregnancy, Anakin. Your child would not be safe from them. You know this."

He spoke the words with simple honesty: a child of the great chosen one, what a prize that would be to the Order. A powerful child, free of any attachment to an equally powerful father, trained in the ways of the force and corruption. The thought chilled him, a reminder of all that had changed. Anakin stayed silent, his eyes on his oldest friends.

"You can join us. It is not to late, there is still power you do not know." He could see as well as feel the anger, revulsion, and conflict that battled within the man. "Soon the Jedi will fall. The galaxy can once again be free of oppression."

"You're lying."

"I have no reason to do so." Obi-Wan said, and through the humming blue glow of Anakin's lightsaber, he could see a track of sweat cut down his face. "You know how I value life, Anakin; I would not join a regime that was intent on murdering innocent people." He again saw the hesitation, the almost agreement. "Or have you forgotten?"

"I haven't forgotten anything, Obi-Wan." He stepped in a circle around Obi-Wan, who kept his arms loose, making no motion towards his lightsaber. "I find those words hard to believe form a Sith. The Sith do not believe in peace."

"Peace is a life." The old mantra of the Sith code came to him. "Justice is not, however. Think of all the Jedi would not do, would not justly secure in the name of Peace. Slavery, for example. Why was your mother allowed to remain in slavery on Tatooine, in clear suffering? The Jedi are afraid, of inciting riots, of making the Senate angry. It restricts them, they no longer stand for what they once did. They are unintentionally cruel, but in some ways, especially when a group has that much unrestricted power, that is far worse than any intention they may have. Think of Ahsoka, despite my protests, the council expelled her. When they offered her place back, she refused. She, too, has seen the ruse of Jedi corruption"

He had struck an open nerve, that he knew. He could see the open pain, feel the open frustration. Anakin was finally seeing what he had come to realize. The cruelty, the absence of justice, the lack of righteousness. The Jedi, who claimed to be the protectors of the innocent and yet they took children from families who did not know enough to stop them, let families be slaughtered in a war they had no place fighting in, defended a Senate who withheld supplies from civilians of planets that did not agree with them.

"You didn't come here to kill me." Anakin's attention snapped back to him, as did the blade of his saber, which if he had been standing any closer, would have been exactly level with Obi-Wan's chest. He opened his mouth to protest, but Obi-Wan waved a hand. "If you had, you would have already."

"Come back to the Order, Obi-Wan. It needs you." He let the blade go more lax in his hand, but kept it pointing at his old master. "I need you."

"Then stay." In a snap, the blue blade disappeared into its handle, and Obi-Wan could feel the surge of the dark side of the force. But still he did not move, made no motion to protect him. What he could feel was not danger. Not rage, or anger, or hate. Instead, his blood buzzed with life, the training bond between him and Anakin reignited with a much stronger emotion.

Joy.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N) Thanks for all the reviews! Slightly sexual themes here, nothing explicit. Hope you enjoy as the plot thickens Please R and R, let me know what you think.

"How are things on Mandalore, darling?" He kept his face buried in the side of her neck, pressing soft kisses to her shoulder.

She was still slightly, panting, still recovering from their acts of passion, her skin warm against his. "It is recovering well enough, with the end of the threat from Death Watch." He had eliminated them for her. It had been all too easy after he had gained his new powers. She didn't know yet, and he had no intention of telling her. She still believe in the vision of peace she had set for herself, he had been far more dedicated to the vision of justice he saw for Mandalore's people, for her after their cruel treatment of her, for himself after what they had done to him. She knew he was changed, he doubted she realized how much.

"When do you have to leave?" She pressed a soft kiss to her ear, and slowly rolled him onto his side, where he could look at her. He could almost never come to Mandalore, it was too, close, he said, to the Jedi Order and they might find him there. Instead, they met on traversed worlds, where they could come together in quiet seclusion.

"As soon as Anakin calls me." After his last encounter with his former apprentice, much had changed. The man now knew what real power could be, had experienced the strength the Sith had to offer. But he had not left the Order, not yet. He would be a key to its destruction, watch as it fell to its knees, and then come back to Obi-Wan, a victor in his own right, to embrace a single side of the double life he was now leading. "I'm sorry I cannot stay longer, my love. There is too much at stake."

He watched her gentle eyes fade into a sad smile, one that complimented the flush of her features. He loved that, when the blood was still pressed against her skin, when she still bore so obviously the facts of their love. It was something that as a Jedi, he could never possess. Now, here in the old beaches of Cato Nemodia, they could finally share each other. He could relish her, love, her, find her beseeching to his own desires.

He pulled her into another kiss, his body already wrought again with desire, but soon after, his hands tugging at her hips, his comlink buzzed. It was not his old apprentice calling, but his new master. He answered only in voice, tugging back on his lower layers of clothing, and loosely wrapping his tunic around himself before he allowed the tiny blue, shadowed form of Dooku come into his grasp.

"Where are you, Obi-Wan? I was expecting you to be leading the charges in the Outer Rim."

"I told you, Master. I will not fight in only a civilian area, regardless of the potential gain. The Republic will fall without the needless slaughter of innocents." He had stepped into the hallway where Satine could not hear him, but he couldn't help but feel she would be proud of him for that.

"Your tracking says you are on Cato Nemodia. We seized that system weeks ago." Dooku sounded exasperated, but underlying the hint of his tone was an undercurrent of undirected frustration. Obi-Wan observed this often after Dooku had spoken with Sidious. He was unhinged.

"I'm with company." Dooku's lips curled back. He understood the implication. "And I'm waiting on a communication from Coruscant. It is necessary before we proceed with the invasion of Naboo."

"I agree, but Lord Sidious has stated that his plan to withdraw the Naboo peace force from the airspace will be delayed by weeks. To attack now, Kenobi, would, as you have so recently said, result in the "needless slaughter of innocents"."

"The taking of Naboo will be far easier than you think." Obi-Wan let out a breath, and heard Satine start to move around in the room behind him. He wanted to get back to her. "Besides, they will not expect it to be me invading. I have good relations with the Naboo, it should be an easy seizure, especially without the guard there."

"Do not let your feelings get in the way of the war, Obi-Wan." Dooku's tone was now flat, and he could feel his spine prick along his bones. "You are no longer a Jedi, and this is a time of war. Death is an unfortunate necessity."

"I understand that, Master." And of course, he did. That did not discount his efforts for what they were though. "We will hit them quickly. There is no need for planet wide destruction, simply an occupation to ensure our control."

"And you intend to lead this occupation?"

"No, Master." And he couldn't help but smile, thinking of the plan he had placed into action with Anakin only nights before. The man had taken back with him a lightsaber, very similar, almost identical in fact, to his old one as a Jedi. In it was the same blue crystal he had abandoned. It would serve as their proof of his death, of his destruction. They would mourn what he had been, and when the time was right, the guilty would fall, unseeing his plot, not knowing what he and Anakin were truly capable of. They would be blinded by false knowledge and their own arrogance. Every wrong they stood for would finally be destroyed. "My presence will be needed elsewhere."

Dooku's frm regarded him carefully. The older man clasped his hands behind his back. "I know of your plan, apprentice. I am unsure of whether or not it will work." He paused for a moment, and Obi-Wan knew better than to speak. "Do not fail me. You have seen what happened to the last apprentice who failed me."

The assassin. Dead. Torn from him. He was free now to feel that pain, but he had other focuses on his mind. "I will not fail you." Dooku did not reply, simply cut the communication. He stood silent for a moment, wanting nothing more than to crush the comlink in his fingers until there was only wire and plastic and metal shards there. But he restrained himself, forcing the anger back.

He pressed open the door to the bedroom, where Satine was standing, loosely re-clothed in a dress. "Is everything alright?" He took a moment to just regard her, before he strode to her, pressing fingers into her hips, pulling the dress back from her body, and kissed her without answering her question. He let the passion spill between them, forcing them back towards the bed, back towards oblivion, and he released his anger. Not into the force, as he had always done, but into his emotions, letting it coexist with his love and desire, warring with the calamity that threatened to pull him back into his shell.

"It will be, love."


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N) Sorry for the long space between updates, I'll be able to post more frequently when I get out of school in the next couple of weeks! Please R and R, they keep me writing!**

"Dead, your old master is?" Yoda's eyes bored into him only as hard as Master Windu's did. But he did not falter under them. He let them feel his emotions, his grief and anger and rage. He let them think it was directed at Obi-Wan. He refused to give them a reason to believe otherwise.

"Yes, Master Yoda." The false lightsaber blade felt impossibly heavy in his hand. This was a form of treason that he never would have dared, never would have desired if his master had stared with him here. But now, there was little left for him here. He felt the tears burn at his eyes, thinking of another man who had stood here with him once, one that was dead, long ago. He activated the blade, the familiar blue blade, to prove to them he wasn't lying. In a way, he wasn't lying. The Obi-Wan they knew was gone for the most part, but now he was stronger, wiser, and, in Anakin's mind, he was finally free.

"Obi-Wan was a great Jedi, to lose one of his caliber is deeply upsetting. You should be congratulated for being able to handle this, Skywalker." Windu was talking. Why did Windu always feel the need to talk? Anakin simply nodded, and placed the fake hilt on a shelf that had risen from the floor. "To lose your master to the dark side and not follow suit shows a strength I didn't know you had."

It was a backhanded compliment, whether it had been meant like one, he didn't know. It was almost cruel, that they didn't know what was coming. He simply nodded, boring his own stare into the gaze of the Master, who seemed slightly startled by it, moving back only a fraction of his stoicism. "To be frank, Master Windu, with all deserved respect, I have never been treated appropriately by this council. You and I are both fully aware of it. Obi-Wan wasn't wither, why do you think he left?" They stared at him, and his eyes went to the chair where Obi-Wan used to sit, a black band laid across the arm of it. "That does not represent the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan, even after falling to the dark side, killed no innocents and had no fight in this war. You didn't even ask. You wanted only to be sure he was dead." He could feel his anger trembling, and knew that everything that Obi-Wan had said to him had been true. His destiny did not life here. "A man that fought his entire life, was tortured for this Order, and the only thing you want to know is whether or not he is dead. I would hope that as an Order, we would have more faith in our own members, but I suppose that's untrue."

Yoda let out a long breath, closing his eyes. "Troubled, you are Skywalker, by Obi-Wan's death. Release your grief into the force. Your pain, your anger, consume you it will."

"Yes, master." Windu was fuming, he could feel the tremors coming off of him, but he ignored them, bowed in general to the masters surrounding them, and left, not sparing the blade hilt a second glance.

* * *

"The boy has made an ass of himself to the council, Kenobi." Dooku's back was turned, his legs spaces evenly apart, hand clasped together behind his back. "Your protégé's insolence is astounding, to say the least."

"He is still young. And he is powerful enough to help us defeat Sidious."

"You care for him." It was not an accusation. Both of them knew it was simply a statement of fact. Anakin was the closest thing Obi-Wan would have to an actual child. He was, for all intents and purposes, the man's son. But they had surpassed the age where he was dependent. He was a man, full grown, and they had grown into more a state of equality than of master/student. Until recently, when Obi-Wan had taken him again under his wing, to show him the true power of the dark side.

"I will not deny that, master." Obi-Wan said, and Dooku gave something that sounded like a stifled laugh. "That does not make him less powerful."

"No." the Sith Lord was thoughtful. "There are other you care for. That woman, for example."

"That is private business, Master." Dooku turned around slowly, hearing an edge of defiance in his new apprentice's voice. Not that he truly cared who Obi-Wan chose to sleep with. But he was in control of this. He would always be in control of this.

"You are my apprentice, there is no private business, as you say." He held his apprentice's cold stare, and pressed his lips into a thin line. "Be glad I don't care more about this woman, or what you do in your free time. Do not fail me, and it won't be a problem."

It was impossible to tell if he had struck a nerve. There was no glimmer of fear, no slight widening of eyes, only the clear, impossible blue stare that seemed to cut through his own. "The Negotiator". What a title that had been. How appropriate it seemed. It would take more than threats to shake him.

He walked past him, waiting on him to turn out of his way before he pushed past. "Have Skywalker lead the Jedi invasion of Naboo. He will be a great asset to you."

"It is already in place, Master." The voice behind him was completely level. No betray al of his emotions through it, or through the force. A prickle of unease came to his stomach at his apprentice's seeming disconnection from him.

"Very well." And he stepped out, letting the door slam shut behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N) Sorry for the long gap between updates, and more action next chapter. School has been wild, and finally it's over, so I should be able to update more frequently, although I have a job starting on Sunday. Please R and R, let me know what you think!**

Anakin stood in front of the council, where he had stood so many times with Obi-Wan, with Ahsoka; but now was alone. His Master's chair had a black armband across it, as was custom for the month after a member of the council joined the force. He was surprised they had observed it so readily, with everything that had happened.

"Received word, we have, of a Separatist invasion of Naboo." Yoda began; the council was mostly absent, its thinning numbers spread wide across the galaxy. "Lead this invasions, you will."

Anakin nodded his head, Obi-Wan's plan had worked then. He had gotten them to trust him, or at least, in his abilities. "I will protect Naboo at all costs, Master. I understand the great importance it holds for the Republic, being the home of the Chancellor and the greatest opponent of this war." That had been his only hesitation in joining Obi-Wan. It had been easy enough to turn his back on an Order that had long deserted him, but he worried that he was betraying her.

But she was having doubts; he could see them. She would a powerful leader in the new Senate, she would come around once he explained everything that had happened. He would keep her safe, he had made sure she wouldn't be on Naboo. "With the gravity of this mission, we wanted to give you the option of taking along another Jedi Knight. You will have command of both the 501st and what remains of Obi-Wan's old battalion to defend against the invasion force, but the choice is yours."

"I will go alone, Master Windu."

"Then your ship is ready." The older Jedi held his stare for a moment, as if contemplating something. "May the force be with you."

"And with you." And with a short bow, he left.

He went over the plan again in his head. He had discussed it with Obi-Wan in full detail; he would go to Naboo, but only with what remained of Obi-Wan's battalion. The 501st would stay here, hidden in the lower levels of Coruscant. Ina few days time, when it was clear the defense of Naboo, that would never actually take place, had failed, Dooku and Obi-Wan would arrive on Coruscant with a fresh parcel of droids. They, along with the others, would overtake the temple.

He had been stricken, when Obi-Wan had told him that.

" _I thought your views of life hadn't changed Master."_

" _They haven't. All life is sacred, and valuable, Anakin. That is why the Jedi, who are prolonging a war that is devastating so many star systems, refusing to supply humanitarian aid, starving citizens they have sworn to protect; must be stopped. It is the way of the Jedi themselves, if one is to die so thousands may survive, then that life may be worth it. They cannot be allowed to continue this injustice in the name of false peace, Anakin." And, how could he argue with that?_

To defeat the remaining masters, it would take Obi-Wan, Dooku, and Sidious working in tandem while Anakin returned from Naboo, under the disguise of the Jedi distress signal they would inevitably send out. He would clear the rest of the temple, and then, alongside his Master and Dooku, destroy Sidious before his empire had a chance to rise.

To Anakin, the plan was foolproof. To work in such harmony would take people who had worked together before, and there was no pair who could move in synchronization like he and Obi-Wan could. Still he worried, but walking through the halls of the temple, unacknowledged by others, people he had given his arm, his master, his apprentice, his life; to protect them, and they did not care. They never had.

Not even Adi Gallia, who he gave a faint smile that was only returned by a hard stare. He cleared the hangar in moments, happy to be out of that place for what he knew would be one of the last times.

* * *

"Thank you for letting us use your ship, darling. It would be far too risky to go in one of Dooku's." His knuckles ran absentmindedly along her bare spine, and she let out long breaths, laced with sleep suggestion, into his shoulder. "And the last thing I want to do is get shot out of the atmosphere."

"No," She said sleepily, kissing his skin, "That's the last thing I want to happen." He laughed, draping that arm around her, picking up his datapad from the nightstand, moving through the military updates he had been receiving. He and Dooku were on Satine's ship, along with the Duchess herself, who would be returning to Mandalore. Dooku had ordered the invasion of Naboo, which was in motion. His apprentice was leading the Jedi forces, his old battalion actually.

He could feel his master calling for him, Dooku was wondering the ship now, and while he had given Obi-Wan his privacy for a time, he should have known it wouldn't last. Satine was asleep now, but he gently rolled her off of his body and stood to dress himself. He was loathe to leave, especially since the air was cold. Dooku did not understand this, having made no romantic attachments in his long life. He didn't understand desire as Obi-Wan now did, and he couldn't help but think that his new master was jealous that he was able to indulge in all aspects of this relationship.

With the force, he turned the lamp off, and moved to the hall. Dooku was easy enough to find, sitting at the large dining table, with a projection hovering of the temple. "I would think the two of us might manage getting around the temple, Master, having spent a fair bit of time there." But Dooku was in no mood for humor.

"We are not planning our entry; that is already set. We are seeing which areas we will need to attend to, where the Knights and masters are most densely concentrated." HE never moved his eyes form the table. "I will go to where Windu will be. You should go to the Council Chambers. They will not expect you there."

"First, master, we have to wait on Anakin's signal. It could be days."

"It will be days, but there is no reason not to plan. We must be hypervigilant if this is to work. The plan is everything. There are no second chances, and no mistakes."

"There won't be any." Obi-Wan said coolly. He was growing tired quickly of Dooku's negativity. "Sidious will eliminate Yoda, the rest we will be able to handle easily. Surprise is our great weapon. They expect nothing."

"They may expect more than you think. I doubt your apprentice's ability to keep this as secretive as is necessary." Dooku finally looked up at him, his gaze cold. "There are no second chances here, if we do not eliminate both the order and Lord Sidious, we will be killed and the galaxy will fall."

"I understand that, Master." He nodded solemnly, "Anakin will not fail me. He never has."

But Obi-Wan had to wonder, moving past Dooku to the small kitchen area, if his faith was as strong as he wanted to believe. But now was not the time for doubts. There were whole star systems at stake. Now was the time for action.


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N) Hooray for violence and death; also known as this chapter. :) Howp you enjoy it, let me know what you think**

He stepped in the front of the temple, the large open space being more than clear enough. Temple security had not been alerted; no guards came rushing. Only his Master, hood pulled over his face, came to stand beside him. "It was never my intention to return here." He said, and Obi-Wan thought he might have heard a trace of emotion, but would never mention that to Dooku.

"The clones will be here in three minutes, Master." Sidious had given only the 501st battalion Order 66. When the temple had fallen, the Order would be sent out fully, each squadron returning to the temple to eliminate any remaining Jedi.

"Wait here for them. I have business to attend to elsewhere." And with a slight swishing of his cloak, Dooku leapt upwards into one of the upper levels on the temple; a motion that drew no attention from the few Jedi who milled about. He fixed his gaze on the Council chambers, illuminated at the end of the hall. There were many present, not Master Yoda; who was elsewhere in the temple. He reached out with the force, and felt the small Master's light moving towards the Senate chambers where Sidious could destroy him.

"We're right behind you, sir." The voice of the battalion commander came in his ear. It was not a surprise, he had heard them coming.

"Ten of you come with me, the rest start moving through the Knight chambers. They are in the upper section, in the back. Eliminate any Jedi you see. Knock on doors, they will not sense a threat." The moved in tandem, but a battalion of seemingly innocent clone protectors would not attract attention. Not until it was far too late for any sort of reaction. Obi-Wan walked slowly, hood still over his face. He received nods from clothed temple guardians who couldn't see his almost pitying smile beneath the cloth. Their ignorance only made this simpler.

He accessed the force easily, and the doors of the council chamber slid open. He could feel the surprise emanating from the room; they had not been expecting company. He let the clones file in first, the ten of them creating an almost half-moon around the entrance, with enough room for him to enter through.

"Soldiers, is there a reason for this?" He could hear Kit Fisto. "Has something happened?"

But the clones remained silent. He took two steps forward, filling in the gap between them. How foolish were they. How arrogant. How destructive. They still sat, not a single one had drawn their lightsabers and one had not even looked up from their datapad. He spared a glance at his own chair, seeing the back armband stretched across it; he could not believe he had once sat here and defended the Republic that had slaughtered so many of its own citizens. No more.

"No." He said, and lifted his hands, pulling back his hood to reveal his face. They gasped. The one on the datapad finally looked up several minutes too late. "But it will." And his lightsaber, finally glowing red as it should have, buzzed to life in his hand at the sound of blaster fire.

* * *

"Hello, there, old friend." Mace Windu whipped around. He had felt the darkness in the temple, but hadn't attributed it to anything extraordinary. He clutched his chest, suddenly feeling overwhelming feelings of terror, of pain, of silence. "I can feel it as well, you know. There are some things that never change."

Dooku stood in front of him, having tossed his robe aside, red saber activated in his hand. "Dooku." He spit out, withdrawing his own purple blade.

"My new apprentice is skilled. A shame you never considered him worth much." He twisted the blade in his hands, beginning to circle around the closed. Mace glanced at the door, but as soon as he had, Dooku pressed his blade tip to it, sealing it shut. "Don't tell me you were trying to leave. We're only just getting started." His voice was mocking. As it always had been.

"Skywalker has joined you then?" His felt his guts twist, more death, more overwhelming silence in the force; cut-short cries and bouts of lingering agony.

"I'm afraid not." Dooku laughed at him. "And while I'm sure he will be more than willing once the Order is destroyed, I can't say I've nailed him down quite yet. Not that it matters, you won't live to see the fall of the Order."

Though Mace was confused, he wanted to keep Dooku talking, trying to reason a way out without having to fight the Sith. He could defeat him, perhaps; but he didn't know the full extent of Dooku's power. Vaapad was powerful, but he could feel his own rage and agitation; he would be risking giving himself over to the dark side to secure victory. "You are not one to get your hands dirt, Dooku."

The Sith Lord smirked at him. "I have faith in my apprentice's abilities, but there are things I'm not willing to leave to chance. Your death is one of them."

Dooku raised his blade in his traditional stance. "And besides, this might be personal Master Windu. After you destroyed my factory on Geonosis."

And as Mace blinked, there was a blur of movement in front of him. He let the force guide his hands, parrying a series of blows that came so fast at his face it looked like neon lights in the lower levels of the city. He blocked and parried, trying to match the former Jedi stroke for stroke. He managed to push Dooku back, but as he did, a fresh wave of agony; this time the death of not only Jedi, but innocents came into being. Children, perhaps.

"Who is it, Dooku?" The old man was smiling at him, "Who have you brought to the temple?"

"Your clones." He smirked again at the look of shock, the compressed breathing and hand pressed to his chest. "Kenobi is doing a fine job leading them through your temple."

And Mace froze. He would have thought his heart stopped, but that wasn't an option as a red blade swung towards his face, coupled with a surge of blue lightning. The last thing he saw before he slammed backwards, unable to block both, was Dooku's eyes, formally so kind, now the pale yellow of the Sith.


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N) Hey, you all! Sorry for the long delay, I just lost the inspiration to write it since I didn't think many people were reading, so I hope y'all still are! :) Rogue 1 inspired me to pick this back up, so I hope you enjoy both this chapter and Rogue 1 since it is amazing!**

Yoda could feel the dark side of the force move strongly around him, every fiber of his ancient body telling him to return to the temple, run back to the Jedi. But he now had his duty as a protector to consider, to protect the Chancellor in this invasion. He could feel each death, each dimming and then vanishing of a small light taking his breath from him. But he pushed back against it, against the dark side that threated to overtake the Jedi temple, and began to move faster than he had since Geonosis.

He found the Chancellor's chambers with only the man himself and two Red Guards by the door, and he gave Yoda a pleasant smile. "Master Yoda, you're early."

"Wait, this could not." He spoke quickly, looking out the Chancellor's window to the temple, where he could now see a trail of smoke spitting from the top. "In grave danger, you are. Attacked the temple has been." The smile vanished from Palpatine's face as he turned around to look out the window himself. "Protect you, I will. To a ship, we must go."

"Of course, Master Jedi." The chancellor stood, his heavy black robes trailing behind him as he began to follow Yoda out of his chambers.

"Safe you will be, on a different planet. In time, return you will." The Chancellor did not say anything, but he could feel some strong emotion coming from him. The Dark Side was settling over the Senate, stemming from the temple. The ones he had held so close, his Council of Masters, were being extinguished.

He felt something then, a sharp prick where he had always been able to recognize Mace Windu, feel his distress and success with ease as they worked so long and so well together. Then, in that same instant, it was gone. He dropped his gimmer stick, hearing it clatter to the floor as all else began to fall apart. He could feel the children vanishing, the Knights falling, the Masters dying in an inevitable clash. Hate for the Jedi, hate for the Order, for peace, was taking its place. And then, as he reached with the force to gather his stick from the ground, he felt the blade pierce his back. He looked down to see the red in front of his face, a moment where time seemed to be frozen and the entire world was still and quiet as realization of what was truly happening finally hit him. But by the time his weathered hands had reached for the hole in his chest, he watched himself vanish, now hovering in the force, feet from where he had been standing, breathing, living, only moments before. And here, in the force, the pain of loss lingered as he could now see who was responsible.

* * *

"Windu is dead." Dooku called from near the entrance of the library. "And the librarian. And the younglings. What progress have you made here?"

"The council is finished. The Knights will not be much longer." Obi-Wan said, his lightsaber lifted by the tips of his fingers as he stood outside the council chambers. "Sidious should have finished off Yoda by now. I have sent the distress signal, Anakin is returning and the other soldiers have moved to the landing area to destroy any incoming ships."

"Our plan has worked, then." Dooku said, and watched as Obi-Wan regarded him cooly. "It is a bit late to be questioning your decision, Obi-Wan."

"I am not questioning my decision." He answered, his face hardening. "I do not have the callous disregard for life that you do, Master."

"This is war. They were criminals, there are better people who have been killed for lesser reasons." He answered. "Let us go to the Senate. Your protégé will be here shortly, having never actually left the system."

"Of course."

* * *

Anakin navigated the ship into the reserved landing platform outside the Senate chambers. Immediately, the forty or so clones began to file off, taking their direct orders into the building. They had been instructed to eliminate any remaining Jedi, and move any Senators out of the area so that Sidious' assassination could be a clean affair. He looked down over the platform, watching as one of the temple speeders, which must have been carrying Obi-Wan and Dooku, flew into the airspace to begin landing. He looked over at the temple, now a smoldering mass on the city landscape, and let out a long breath he didn't know he had been holding.

He had felt, of course, the attack on the temple. The slaughter that had occurred at the hands of Dooku and his master. He had not expected this level of emotion from himself, guilt and anger and underlying rage that pushed at his eyes as he held back a tear. But then he thought of Padme, of his entire life having been slave to another code that he had not asked for nor wanted, of not being able to marry her in public. He thought of Obi-Wan, a Jedi Master, who had been so disillusioned with their corruption that he had left the Order altogether, and then come back to the destroy them. Of Qui-Gon, who had helped him despite their principles. Of Ahsoka, who had left after they refused to defend her. Of his unborn child who would have surely been taken away from Padme when they were found to be force sensitive. There was nothing for him in that Order, not anymore. He wasn't sure there ever truly had been.

He stepped away from the ship, the initial sadness at seeing his former home destroyed gone in the wake of the anger that now replaced it. And the man waiting for them had lied, his words dripping with sweetness and false promises that would never be fulfilled. There were two people who had never given up on him or tried to manipulate him, one was home safe, carrying their child. The other was Obi-Wan, who so\on would need his help in restoring peace, justice, and security to the new galaxy.


End file.
